Pontiac

How many other names in automotive history exude power, performance and muscle-car pedigree with just three letters? How many other cars can be known, simply, as GTO? Yes, this powerful brand is back for 2004. But does the new GTO stand a chance at recapturing the magic of the original without trampling all over its rich heritage? That is the question, but as the only rear-drive V-8 powered GM two-door car this side of a Corvette, it might not matter what badge is on it. The GTO will sell.

It has no doubt been a trying time for Pontiac dealers, who, up until the launch of the 2006 Torrent, have had to make do without a sport-utility vehicle . . . in a world that has mostly revolved around sport-utility vehicles. It's safe to say that Pontiac stores will be better served by the attractive and well-engineered Torrent. Heavily based on the Chevrolet Equinox and Saturn Vue (all part of GM's family), the Torrent is built alongside them at the Canadian GM/Suzuki joint-venture plant.

DETROIT -- Expanding its portfolio in the rapidly growing small car segment, Pontiac announced plans to bring the sporty, five-door hatchback G3 to U.S. showrooms early next year. When it arrives, the G3 will provide Pontiac with a total of four vehicles capable of more than 30 miles per gallon on the highway. Already successful in Canada and Mexico,the G3 offers an EPA estimated 27 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway while boasting the best shoulder and hip room in the segment for seating five adults.

It could be considered impractical as well as downright impertinent to launch a two-seat open-top sports car these days. In a world run by the "bottom line," most don't fit any high-volume, high-profit business plan simply because they're seldom used as primary transportation: a two-seat roadster is a discretionary purchase for folks who already have one or more sets of four-season wheels. But, if you're Pontiac, it would appear that you can make the bottom line work, keep the bean counters happy and still let your imagination run truly wild.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com Unanswered questions continue to surround a head-on collision that happened early New Year's Day and left one woman dead. Cpl. Willie Johnson of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department said that because police have not yet notified the family of the woman killed, her name could not be released. The wreck was reported at 4:53 a.m. Thursday just after Exit 5 of Interstate 81. A 1989 Pontiac, heading north, went into the median for unknown reasons and then into the southbound lanes, hitting a Honda Passport.

FREDERICK, Md. -- Maryland State Police charged two men after a high-speed chase that reached speeds up to 110 mph, involved three counties and resulted in two police cruisers being hit by the suspect's car on Saturday, according to a news release. The chase started in Frederick County and went into Howard and Carroll counties. The driver, John Kemp, 19, and the passenger, Larnell Minor, 23, were charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, reckless endangerment, possession of marijuana and cocaine, and numerous traffic violations, the release states.

It was one of the moments in life when you have to wonder what if. What if Jim Wangers hadn't decided that horsepower would sell? What if Wangers, the brains behind Pontiac's promotion team in the 1960s, had listened to bosses who wanted small sedans, but not big horsepower? And what if Wangers hadn't taken a chance? Here's a certainty. Wangers, now 80, probably wouldn't be living in luscious Oceanside, Calif., thinking about how a little red car with a hot engine and a three-letter name became a household word in the auto industry: GTO. What if. "We took racing off the track and put it on the street," Wangers recently told the Detroit Free Press.

The revamp of General Motors' sedan lineup continues to march along at a brisk pace with the introduction of the all-new G6. Set to eventually replace the long-in-the-grille Grand Am as Pontiac's high-volume model, the G6 launch will, over the next year, grow to include a performance-oriented coupe as well as a hardtop convertible model. In creating cars such as the G6, GM is attempting to energize the domestic-sedan market, an automotive category that has been dominated by Japanese competitors for the past few years.

Washington Township, Pa., police have released further details about an accident in which a car struck a house on Stottlemyer Road on Tuesday. Tyler Wyatt of 145 East 5th St. of Waynesboro drove a 1995 Honda Civic that crashed into a home at 8527 Stottlemyer Road, according to police. Wyatt was westbound on Stottlemyer Road shortly before 3 p.m. when the rear of his car began to slid to the left after negotiating a turn, causing his vehicle to leave the road, police said in a news release.

HANCOCK - A father's looks and love affair with cars are easily passed on. Just ask Josh Barnhart. The Clear Spring 21-year-old got them both. "I was born into it," said Barnhart, who wore a T-shirt celebrating hot rods during a Father's Day car show Sunday in Widmeyer Memorial Park in Hancock. Barnhart was vague when he explained what he had learned from his dad, Tim Barnhart. "He taught me how to do all the bad stuff, stuff that will get you in trouble," Barnhart said.

Washington Township, Pa., police have released further details about an accident in which a car struck a house on Stottlemyer Road on Tuesday. Tyler Wyatt of 145 East 5th St. of Waynesboro drove a 1995 Honda Civic that crashed into a home at 8527 Stottlemyer Road, according to police. Wyatt was westbound on Stottlemyer Road shortly before 3 p.m. when the rear of his car began to slid to the left after negotiating a turn, causing his vehicle to leave the road, police said in a news release.

FREDERICK, Md. -- Maryland State Police charged two men after a high-speed chase that reached speeds up to 110 mph, involved three counties and resulted in two police cruisers being hit by the suspect's car on Saturday, according to a news release. The chase started in Frederick County and went into Howard and Carroll counties. The driver, John Kemp, 19, and the passenger, Larnell Minor, 23, were charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, reckless endangerment, possession of marijuana and cocaine, and numerous traffic violations, the release states.

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take more than half its stock in exchange for half of GM's government debt as part of a major restructuring that would leave current shareholders holding just 1 percent of the company. The struggling automaker said it will offer 225 shares of common stock for every $1,000 in notes held by bondholders as part of a debt-for-equity swap that aims to retire most of GM's $27 billion in unsecured debt.

DETROIT -- Expanding its portfolio in the rapidly growing small car segment, Pontiac announced plans to bring the sporty, five-door hatchback G3 to U.S. showrooms early next year. When it arrives, the G3 will provide Pontiac with a total of four vehicles capable of more than 30 miles per gallon on the highway. Already successful in Canada and Mexico,the G3 offers an EPA estimated 27 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway while boasting the best shoulder and hip room in the segment for seating five adults.

The Washington County Sheriff's Department responded to the following calls, according to Sgt. Roy Harsh. Thursday - An auto theft was reported at 4:24 a.m. in the 18800 block of Fountain Terrace in the Fountain Head area. A red 2006 Acura GL with Maryland registration PRP729 was stolen. Police said that a male used a cell phone left in the car to call the owners at 4:22 a.m. and tell them he had stolen the car. - A theft from a vehicle was reported at 5:52 a.m. in the 11100 block of Mahogany Drive, near Mount Aetna Drive.

HANCOCK - A father's looks and love affair with cars are easily passed on. Just ask Josh Barnhart. The Clear Spring 21-year-old got them both. "I was born into it," said Barnhart, who wore a T-shirt celebrating hot rods during a Father's Day car show Sunday in Widmeyer Memorial Park in Hancock. Barnhart was vague when he explained what he had learned from his dad, Tim Barnhart. "He taught me how to do all the bad stuff, stuff that will get you in trouble," Barnhart said.

Simple, tasteful and elegant are words not normally associated with most cars built by North American automakers in the early 1960s. The revolutionary 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix can rightfully lay claim to those adjectives as it became a benchmark for style and sophistication. Before its arrival, the personal-luxury category was dominated and even outright owned by the second-generation Ford Thunderbird that was introduced in 1958. That year marked the beginning of the four-seater 'Bird, a larger but eminently more practical version of the two-seat original.

It was one of the moments in life when you have to wonder what if. What if Jim Wangers hadn't decided that horsepower would sell? What if Wangers, the brains behind Pontiac's promotion team in the 1960s, had listened to bosses who wanted small sedans, but not big horsepower? And what if Wangers hadn't taken a chance? Here's a certainty. Wangers, now 80, probably wouldn't be living in luscious Oceanside, Calif., thinking about how a little red car with a hot engine and a three-letter name became a household word in the auto industry: GTO. What if. "We took racing off the track and put it on the street," Wangers recently told the Detroit Free Press.